


Jedi Ex Machina

by mrv3000



Series: Jedi Adoption for Dummies [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Chapter 16: The Rescue, Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker, Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi, Force Ghost Shenanigans (Star Wars), Gen, Humor, Skywalker Family Drama (Star Wars), a lighthearted take on the episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28196256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrv3000/pseuds/mrv3000
Summary: "We lost Grogu!"Luke's eyes snapped open to the transparent images of Obi-Wan and his father."A little tact, Anakin?" Obi-Wan chided."All right. Hello, son. How are you today? Have you been eating your vegetables? Finished all your Jedi homework? I amnot good because we lost Grogu!"
Series: Jedi Adoption for Dummies [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043085
Comments: 36
Kudos: 285





	Jedi Ex Machina

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place before Chapter 16: The Rescue, continuing on from the previous fic: The Jedi is a Lie.

It was possible that his father was panicking. Just a bit. Luke had been meditating next to a fountain in the Temple when he heard a now-familiar voice:

"We lost Grogu!"

Luke's eyes snapped open to the transparent images of Obi-Wan and his father.

"A little tact, Anakin?" Obi-Wan chided.

"All right. Hello, son. How are you today? Have you been eating your vegetables? Finished all your Jedi homework? I am _not good because we lost Grogu_!"

"How could you _lose_ him?" Luke asked, standing up while feeling his own panic starting to rise.

His father covered his ghostly eyes and waved in Luke’s direction. "Gah! Stop looking at me like that!"

Having his father in his life was nothing like Luke ever imagined.

He always pictured his father as serious and brave. And then Darth Vader came along and blasted all his preconceived notions away. Luke had to painfully revise his beliefs because while his father was serious, he was also devastating. So after his father died and turned up as a Force ghost, Luke imagined he'd be serious and less devastating.

Instead Anakin Skywalker was, well, _Anakin_.

Sure there were times when he saw echoes of Vader, but then Anakin would be Anakin and Luke's mind would turn into a bunch of question marks.

Obi-Wan folded his arms into the sleeves of his robe. "I was of the opinion that we should leave Din to his own devices to rescue the youngling.”

"Did you not see the dark troopers? _Dark troopers_ , Obi-Wan."

He shrugged. "Polished battle droids."

Luke shared a look with his father. This was kind of bad. Obi-Wan never had to deal with dark troopers, and his mindset was sometimes back in the Clone Wars.

"Yeah, but they're not just battle droids," Luke replied. "A trained Jedi could take one out, but a single dark trooper would have cut a path straight through a battalion of clones."

Luke could see the slowly dawning horror on Obi-Wan’s face. "Ah,” he said. “And straight through a bounty hunter.”

“Well, the pieces under the beskar would probably be intact. They wouldn’t be _connected_ to each other, but who needs that?” Luke’s father snarked. 

After Darth Vader, Luke should have at least expected the snark.

They quickly made their way into a room with a long-range communications device. And while they did manage to get through to Ahsoka, to everyone's disappointment she had moved on and was on the opposite side of the galaxy at the moment.

"I'd have loved some dark trooper exercise," she bemoaned. "It's been awhile."

“I would have thought you’d had enough droids for a lifetime,” Obi-Wan commented. Apparently Force ghosts could be heard over comms, unless they were doing some other kind of Force communication directly to Ahsoka. Luke wasn’t exactly sure how it worked.

“Need to keep those skills sharp,” she replied. “What happened with Ezra? Wasn’t he going to be the final Jedi on your whole mystical fatherhood quest?”

Obi-Wan hmm’ed a bit.

“I’m sorry to say, but Ezra’s not very dependable,” Luke’s father replied. “Just a real disappointment. Such a shame.”

“What did you do, Anakin?” Ahsoka asked flatly.

“Me? What about Obi-Wan? He was with me the whole time!”

Ahsoka’s face screwed up. “Do you really want me to start on a list of why I think it was you? Bold choice with Luke right here.”

Luke suppressed a smirk while his father said to her, “I’m way more proud of you when you fight dirty against _other_ people. Just so you know.”

Obi-Wan cut in. “Ezra had a few, erm, Vader-related issues.”

“Along with the rest of the galaxy,” Ahsoka said with a sigh. “I’ll try to check in with him soon. So let’s define our assets.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan replied, appearing to settle into military mode. “When we left, the party included our Mandalorian father, as well as Boba Fett, yes _that_ Boba Fett,” Obi-Wan said when surprise registered on both Ahsoka’s and Luke’s faces. “And one skilled mercenary. Din’s ship was destroyed so they’re down to Fett’s modified Firespray 31 fitted with fairly impressive armaments. In addition, Din and Boba have beskar armor and they all have slightly heavier weaponry than you’d expect from your standard bounty hunter crew.”

After a momentary silence Ahsoka commented, “And that’s it. No trained Force users and three fighters but not _military_ fighters, and one patrol ship against a light cruiser and a squad of dark troopers. And all this in hopes they can do something before the youngling is hurt or worse.”

“I’m sorry, _what_?” a new voice called out from the doorway of the room.

Leia! That’s right, they were meant to have lunch today, and Luke had intended to try and talk her into some sparring after. That obviously wouldn’t be happening now.

(Even if there wasn’t the pressing issue, the sparring would have been out due to the presence of Obi-Wan and their father, Leia reaching her limit a while back. When the otherworldly Jedi weren’t critiquing every bit of their forms, the ghosts were off to the side having loud “discussions” about things like Obi-Wan’s name. “I am not calling you _Ben_. That’s even stupider than the time you backflipped off that cliff.” “That was _you_ , Anakin.” “Not the time I’m talking about.” Luke had an enormous suspicion that spite had played some kind of role when Leia named her son.)

The ghosts in the room were staring at Leia like banthas caught in a headlight. Something really odd happened in the Force, and suddenly Luke got the distinct impression of their father being held in place by Obi-Wan, much like how one held a tooka by the scruff of its neck.

“Is this about that Force-sensitive child you mentioned a few weeks ago?” she asked Luke, joining them at the comm device. “Grogu?”

Luke nodded and gave her a brief summary of the situation they found themselves in. After which she gave them all very long stares in turn, as if looking for answers she wasn’t finding.

“You mean to tell me that the child was _with_ Ahsoka where he could have been protected and you sent him away?” Leia asked slowly. “To sit on some mountain top? As some sort of... _adoption screening_ for a man who is woefully out of his depth?”

Ahsoka was nodding right up until Leia turned her attention on her. Ahsoka quickly said, “Totally Obi-Wan and Anakin’s idea. Not even going to cover for them a little.”

“But you went along with them, because of course you did. You're all idiots. Oh my gods, _Jedi_."

"You're also--" Obi-Wan started to say.

" _Nope_. And if anything I'm the sane one in this circus."

Ahsoka covered her mouth with her hand in an obvious attempt to cover an inappropriate smile. She tended to do that when either he or Leia reminded her very strongly of one of their biological parents. He wondered which one it was this time.

Leia focused all her attention on Luke. "And you!"

"Hey! What'd I do?" Luke held out his hands, backing up a step.

"Going along with these ghostly bearded types and leaving a child in a dangerous situation?!"

Their father raised his hand. "Uh, I don't have a beard."

Leia shot him a look. He put his hand down.

“Look, it’s always fun watching Leia chew people out,” Ahsoka commented over the comm. “But we’ve got to decide how to deal with this.”

“Quite right,” Obi-Wan quickly replied. “The main issue seems to be these dark troopers. If we take them out, then we can leave the father and son to it.”

Leia blinked at him. "You’re planning on saving them, _to a certain extent_ , and then just...leaving Grogu with someone who has to hitch a ride to who knows where? All while the child is on those ex-Imperial assholes’ radar? Hoping he’ll be safe with a bounty hunter who doesn’t even have a ship right now?”

"Possessions do not define a person, Leia," Obi-Wan said.

"I know _that_. That is absolutely not the point here!”

Their father jumped in. “I don’t think you understand how much Din _loves_ Grogu.”

“That may be, but there are practicalities,” Leia countered, stepping up to his tall form.

“So it’s ‘Here you go, kid. Enjoy being raised by _practicalities_!’”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You know that’s not what I’m saying!”

“The love of a parent should override _everything_!” he insisted to her.

“Not when the child is in danger!”

“Din can handle things!”

“Obviously not, or you wouldn’t be here planning a rescue!”

“That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be together!”

“How in the hells can he take care of him in the current situation? How is that being a fit father?!"

"He'd do anything for his kids!" the ex-Sith declared adamantly. "You don't just decide...he's their _father_!" 

Everyone who wasn’t Anakin Skywalker froze. Even Ahsoka stared wide-eyed out at them from the comm device.

"Kid, Anakin,” Obi-Wan corrected him faintly. “Just the one.”

Nine hells, this wasn't just about Grogu. At least not in their father's mind. This was a whole different can of worms. One they simply didn’t have time for right now.

It might have been helpful to know his father’s motivations (even subconscious motivations) from the beginning instead of it hurtling out at the worst time. Even Obi-Wan looked somewhat blindsided. _This_ was why he'd practically begged Leia (without success) to be on their new Jedi Council. One of her gifts of the Force was bringing truths to light, whether she was trying to or not. 

Their father glared at the floor, his jaw set, and Leia’s shoulders slumped. She stepped back towards Luke who opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it, feeling at a loss.

Leia sighed and said in a more subdued tone, “You need to bring Grogu here. Just Grogu.” She held up a hand as both their father and Obi-Wan looked ready to reply. “At least for the short term. The Mandalorian needs to get his own life in order before Grogu goes back with him. Just the basics, even. And he can’t do that from this Temple. Most importantly, the child needs to be out of danger. You do see that, don’t you?”

No one said anything, everyone contemplating her words.

“Sometimes I really hate being the hard-ass,” Leia commented softly, rubbing at her temples.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes. “I had hoped. The Force does still want them together.”

“It does,” their father agreed mulishly.

“I’d like that too. I know it may not sound like it,” Leia added taking in everyone’s somewhat cynical expressions at her statement. “But you’re fighting so hard for the two of them. That does mean something to me.”

“Everyone hoped for them,” Luke replied. “ _Hopes_ ,” he corrected.

“It’s just not their time right now.” 

Luke nodded at her. He mentally pushed out a sense of comfort into the room, which he underscored with feelings of family. They’d all work together to make this right.

Luke felt Leia mentally brush back, giving each other the equivalent of a hand squeeze. Obi-Wan gave him a grateful smile, and even the corners of Luke’s father’s lips were turning up. Either Ahsoka was extremely good at reading moods over comms, or there really was some kind of Force ghost connection going on, because she had a relieved sort of smile as well.

“So, the plan?” Leia prompted.

Obi-Wan shook himself a bit and then declared, “Luke, you’re going to have to go get him.”

“The sooner, the better,” their father chimed in. “Preferably immediately. Dark troopers. Disconnected bits of Mandalorian. You know, all that.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Luke replied. 

An overly-dramatic gasp came from the comm image. “Luke? Out of the Temple? Is Coruscant okay? Someone write down the date!”

Lovely. Roasted by one of the only living Jedi (no matter how hard she tried to deny it.) 

But the sound of the chuckles from everyone in the room dissolved any remaining tension, so he’d take the ribbing.

Ahsoka added, “Be sure to send me a message when you get back with Grogu. I need to know if I’ve got to go rescue your ass too, SkyChap.”

“Yes to the first, and absolutely not to the last.”

Ahsoka tsked. “I _will_ find the perfect nickname for you. And you will love it.”

“Yes, _auntie_ ,” Luke replied with a snicker.

Ahsoka signed off with a jaunty salute, and Luke’s mind immediately switched to mission preparation, something he hadn’t done in years.

“Food and water. Extra for the youngling,” he mused out loud to himself. “Message Artoo to prep the X-wing. Flight suit.”

Their father gave an audible shudder. “Yes, because an eye-searing orange jumpsuit screams confidence and not ‘which way to the clown entrance.’”

“They’re practical,” Leia insisted. “Try finding a downed pilot who’s wearing something for the _aesthetic_.”

“Good thing that’s not remotely an issue in this case,” he replied with a smirk.

Luke gave him a grin. “You’re right. Really need to Jedi this up, don’t I? Cloak and all!”

“Yes!” he cheered while Obi-Wan and Leia enjoyed synchronized eye rolls.

Before Luke could even take a step towards the door, Leia put a hand on his arm. “Hey. Don’t promise them anything.”

Luke took it for what it was: concern rather than something heartless. “Yeah, I know. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them to not get their goodbyes because they thought it was a ‘see you soon.’ I mean we want it to be temporary, but the future is always in motion. We can’t give them false hope.”

Leia gave him a wry smile. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if the Force wills it then the child won’t be with us for very long.”

Who knew that one little comment could make Luke so giddy? “Ooh, the _Force_? Hear that? _Leia_ just invoked the _Force_!”

“Try and give an encouraging remark, and look what happens,” Leia complained. "You are the worst.”

“I know by ‘worst’ you mean ‘best.’”

“Just go.” She gave him a light shove. “If you can even remember how to fly.”

"Oh, ha ha." A glance to the side found a couple of Force ghosts grinning at them, watching their exchange. Something altogether pleasant hummed in the Force, and Luke was pretty sure it was mostly coming from their father.

Leia smirked. "There are really bright things in the galaxy called suns. They're very hot. Don't fly towards them."

"You think you're so funny."

"I'm the hilarious twin. Han agrees."

“Yeah,” Luke said with a snort. He punched out a quick message to Artoo on his wrist link before looking back up at her. "I’ll comm when I get back."

“You’d better.”

As Luke gave her a see-you-soon hug, he tried _very_ hard to ignore his father yelling, "Shotgun!"

“X-wing, Anakin.”

“Ghosts, Obi-Wan. We fit literally anywhere.”

Leia’s amusement at Luke’s expense broadcast loudly through the Force, and he had a feeling that by the time he got to the cruiser he’d be up for his own dark trooper exercise.


End file.
